Watch lover or not, know this: Piaget is having a moment. Tags of #PiagetSociety and #PiagetCollector are popping up all over TikTok but what’s at the core of this newfound Piaget hype?
“There’s beauty in simplicity when it comes to time-only watches,” shares vintage watch collector Elias Marte, “so a lot of people are realising they don’t need all the extra stuff in a watch.” In other words, Piaget’s dial material (Tiger’s Eye or Malachite) is turning out to be more appealing than that of a chronograph or date window.
This neo-vintage chapter is helping an industry so enriched with history to revisit its annals in a way that feels relevant, allowing consumers the freedom to peruse history and form their own relationship with the past. “The Piaget brand is synonymous with a bygone era… when brands were bold,” notes vintage watch collector and heritage enthusiast Joël Laplace. “There's a real Piaget style and the brand now realises the richness of its past, which means I hope previously overlooked or undervalued timepieces can have their time in the spotlight again.”
Enter the Piaget Polo. Once worn by Andy Warhol, Nancy Sinatra and Bond girl Ursula Andress, it has just been revived after 45 years and is currently breaking the watch internet. “Ever since my first day at Piaget [over two years ago], people have been asking me if we’ll ever make another version of the Polo,” shares Benjamin Comar, Piaget CEO about what was essentially a visually arresting, waterproof sports watch with one of the thinnest quartz movements ever created.
Two things in particular make the refashioned model different: its size – 38mm compared to the OG’s daintier 34mm – and its mechanical movement. “Authenticity is the motto we give ourselves when creating a product,” continues Comar, “and ultimately that authenticity translates in showcasing watchmaking in its most technical and purest form: mechanical.” Or as Marte puts it: “Piaget demonstrates mastery of ultra-thin watchmaking while also combining it with next-level creativity.”
The new Polo raises an already high bar for Piaget, and in doing so it has gained traction with the WatchTok crowd. “It’s really attractive for the younger generation of watch collectors because most of the watches have configurations and finishing that at today’s prices would cost 10 times more,” says Fabrizio Bonvicino of Italian Watch Spotter, a proud wearer of the OG Piaget Polo. “When you are attracted to something, you are automatically eager to gather as much information as you can. This is bringing more people into developing a passion for watches, even for those who are not watch geeks.”
Case in point, avid collector Thorsten Juelich now runs @piagetcollector, which is entirely dedicated to the brand. “The first Piaget I ever bought was the golden Piaget Polo Reference 7661 from 1982,” he shares. “That is where my whole journey of collecting Piaget started. Recently, vintage Piaget has made a strong comeback in popularity. Some credit goes to its cultural impact, with Sylvester Stallone wearing a Polo in Tulsa King and Michael B. Jordan spotted courtside with a vintage Piaget Polo as well.”
Piaget’s resurgence – The Weeknd is also a fan – leads the way for a greater undercurrent for jewellery-based watches. “We’ve seen this rise and interest in design-watches starting with Cartier,” says watch dealer and vintage aesthete, Harris of Mendel Watches. “As a dealer, I’ve spent a lot of time educating customers into looking at other brands other than Cartier, which for a long time has been the most common for these types of watches. Piaget was the first to come to mind and when I dove into it deeper and understood the craftsmanship, materials, designs and history it was obvious Piaget was meant to rise in popularity, if not dominate the market at some point, just like it used to in the ’60s/’70s/’80s.”
With hopes to resurrect further Piaget Polo classics in bold oblong shapes and interchanging shades, the contemporary cult of Piaget feels like it’s only just beginning. Above all, it feels like the perfect example of how to successfully demobilise the strictures of gendered watches with pieces that feel decorative and androgynous in perfect harmony.
